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29 July 2014

Honoring Ancestors

Sister Breksa's great-grandmother's was born on 25 July
1902. She passed away in 1980. To honor Mary Ann Atkin Hansen, Sister Breksa's mother was inspired to invite Mary's posterity to visit any of the 143 temples on the 25th of July this year. Invitations were mailed to 35 of her descendants --representing children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Missionaries
are not able to schedule their visits to the temple and it is not a regular
opportunity. An unexpected blessing was needed and it was given, her mission
attended the Fukuoka Temple that preceding Monday.

On the 25th, her parents and two of her
three siblings visited the Boston Massachusetts Temple.

“There really can be a bond and a sense of belonging that
ties together generations. ... This bond gives us a sense of identity and
purpose. Our ties with the eternal world suddenly become very real, sharpening
our life’s focus and lifting our expectations. ... We can discover within
ourselves a reservoir of patience and endurance that we never will find without
the deep commitment that grows from a sense of real belonging. Exerting such
immovable loyalty to another person teaches us how to love – indeed, how to be
more like the Savior. Our sense of belonging to one another...foreshadows our
belonging in the eternal family of God. Our willingness to discipline our
individual desires enough to honor [our] loved ones prepares us to belong to
Him who is our Father.” Bruce C. Hafen, Liahona, June 1998, 16